Chapter 52

"Hey."

"I thought you wouldn't come." Nelson smiled at Terry who just arrived.

"I'm sorry about your friend, Carter." Terry said.

"Ah, we weren't that close anyhow." Nelson waved his hands.

"This is a pretty odd place to be planning a surprise party..." Terry looked around the place that they decided to meet in. It was closed down bowling alley next to a closed down skating rink. Both of these establishments went out of business because college kids rarely go to these places anymore. "Did you rent this place?" He asked.

"Yeah...It needs some fixing up, but it's a good place for a party, isn't it?"

The place had many chairs and tables, and they could bowl if they felt like it.

Nelson led Terry into the innermost part of the bowling alley where the manager's office should be.

"Go ahead." Nelson urged him to go through the door.

Terry was suspicious but he was thinking what is the worst thing this guy could do that he won't be able to handle it. If it meant that Nelson would be off his back, then it is worth coming here to take care of him now.

Right as he opened the door...

"Ugh!"

He was kicked from the back and got pushed inside of the room forcefully. He looked back and just smiled at the four men that also got inside the room after him.

"I knew it..." Terry chuckled.

"You knew this was coming? And you still came? Are you dumb?" Nelson said.

"If I knew I wouldn't be able to beat you, then it would really be dumb of me to come here."

"This guy...Where's your confidence coming from?" Mason said.

"...You'll just have to find out for yourselves." Terry said with a menacing smile.

In response, Nelson and the football team got paranoid and started looking around them.

"Tch! Did you call your friends here?!"

"Why would you think that? I came here alone. I don't need back up to take you all down...but can I just ask a question before we start?"

"..." They didn't respond to them because they were still suspicious. It wasn't the reaction they were hoping for from Terry. They expected him to be at least anxious, but he was calm and cold.

"What are you trying to accomplish by ganging up on me?"

"Dana..." Nelson uttered.

"Dana?"

"Stay away from her...I don't want to see you near her anymore!" Nelson bursted.

"That would be up to her. If she says so, then sure. But why should I listen to you?"

"You're no good for her. Everytime she got in trouble, somehow, you were always there..."

Terry widened his eyes. Nelson's remark made him falter for a second and made him not notice the incoming fist flying to his face.

The punch hit him and made him step back, but he didn't fall.

"You have a point...but you were with her too, weren't you..." It was true that on both occasions that Dana got taken, It was because of him, but that doesn't change the fact the Nelson couldn't do anything about it when he was literally next to her. "Why don't you take responsibility as well?"

Terry grabbed him by the shoulder and lunged his knee into Nelson's stomach.

That initiated the other people to attack.

The biggest one, Dirk, launched a tackle on Terry, but he dodge it and he grabbed his head and used the momentum created from the charge to crash him onto the desk.

Nelson backed away as he clutched his stomach in pain and the other two launched the attack as well.

Mason tried to punch Terry, but he hit nothing but air as he felt the arm he threw turning to another direction.

Terry manipulated his joints and made him get hit by Jody's punch.

"Shit! Sorry Mason!" Jody said before getting kicked by Terry.

"I'm curious...did you have a plan of what you're going to do if you get beat up instead?" Terry teased.

"Grrr..."

All of them slowly got back up and slowly started approaching Terry from every side.

Terry faintly smiled, before charging at Dirk.

Dirk saw Terry's knee headed at his face and crossed his arms. "Huh?" He peeked and Terry was above him. Terry didn't aim to kick his face but instead jumped over him to get out of their entrapment.

"Even if you brought the entire football team with you, I don't think you'd be able to beat me." Terry said after he landed on his feet.

They charged him again without a plan and got hit many times before they exhausted themselves.

"You guys done?"

All of them struggled on catching their breath while Terry was still leisurely standing and smiling at them.

In truth, Terry was going easy on them. If he hadn't, they would have been knocked out the first time they clashed with him. Not only was he going easy on them because they weren't criminals, but he wants them to remember vividly what's going to happen should they try this again.

"Graaaagh!!!" Dirk charged again to tackle him. This time, he finally caught Terry, but Terry didn't budge.

"You're out of steam, pal." Terry said before elbowing Dirk's bag and grabbing his shoulder and back to shove him against the wall.

Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.

Unexpectedly, the wall crumbled and revealed the skating rink next door. Only, unlike the bowling alley, it wasn't empty.

Nelson and the others took a peek at the other side and found a crowd of people wearing clown masks.

It was the Jokerz.

"Who the hell are you?!" One of the Jokerz pointed his weapon at them.

Nelson and the other two gulped as they looked among themselves and wondering what to do. But they noticed that one other person that should have still been with them is gone. Terry left them there as soon as the other side of the hole revealed the Jokerz hideout.

"Where'd he go?" Nelson asked them.

Mason shook his head. "He probably already ran away. Let's drag Dirk away from here fast."

"Hey!! Didn't I just ask you a question?- Hey!! What are you doing?" The member of the Jokerz started shouting when he saw them grab their friend that got knocked out after hitting his head on the wall and running away. "Damn it! After them!" He shouted then, members of the Jokerz started chasing after them.

----

Terry immediately backed away once he saw the Jokerz on the other side of the hole. He turned on the cloaking function of the suit as soon as he made sure that everyone's attention wasn't on him.

When they started chasing Nelson and his friends away, he started snooping inside. There were still a few of them left in their base but they wouldn't notice him because he was invisible.

There, on the farthest right of the skating rink, a device was set up and hooked up to a computer.

'That must be the device that was missing from their last hideout.' He thought. 'To think that meeting up with those idiots would lead me here.'

Now, he's glad that he took the time to go along Nelson's whims.

He scanned the whole place before finally reaching the computer.

'The Joker isn't here along with his ranked officers.'

Clickity clackity clack.

He started meddling with the computer that was connected to the unfamiliar device to find out what it was.

"Omega Bomb...?"

All those objects they stole were assembled to make a bomb that produces the same devastating effect as an omega beam.

It was the device that Batman tried to stop and got him killed.

"Who's there?!" Somebody shouted.

When Batman turned around, he saw the Red Hood looking straight at him. He had his arms raised up as guns were being pointed at him.

"Put your hands behind your head!" The man shouted at the Red Hood.

Batman watched the scene in confusion. Obviously, the cloaking device didn't hide him from the Red Hood but it worked on the Jokerz.

As the Red Hood slowly put his hand behind his head...

Schwing!

A blade slid up to both of his hands from his sleeve.

"Hey!"

Bang! Bang!

The Jokerz shot at him as he turned around to a kneeling position and simultaneously threw the daggers at the Jokerz that were pointing their guns at him.

"Gahk!"

"Kuhk!"

It successfully hit the Jokerz on their throats.

The Red Hood, then, quickly drew his gun from the holsters hidden by his trench coat, but before he could fire on the other Jokerz that were charging from the distance, Batman revealed himself and put him in a chokehold.

"No! This wasn't what Bruce would have wanted, Jason!"

Bang!

Batman swayed his head and dodged a bullet before he threw Jason to a safe place where he'll be safe from incoming enemy fire. He himself dropped and rolled to cover.

Ratatatatatata!!!"

Both of them escaped the line of fire just in time.

"It would be easier if we just kill them." Red Hood said while taking cover across from him.

"This isn't what you were trained for, Jason!"

"I've been doing nothing but training for this since I was reborn!" Red Hood stood up and opened fire!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"No!" Batman screamed as he charged Red Hood and tackled him on the ground.

Red Hood punched him and it turned to a ground fight.

Batman ended up putting Red Hood in a chokehold again from behind.

The Jokerz found where they were but Batman turned on the rockets on his soles and flew up, bursting out the ceiling. It was to prevent Red Hood and the Jokerz from killing each other.

While flying away from the building, the Red Hood kept on trying to escape free from Batman's tight grip and made him lose control.

They ended up crashing and rolling on the ground.

"Aaaaah!!" People panicked and ran away from them to keep a good amount of distance.

Red Hood finally escaped Batman's hold on him and stood up. Batman also stood up.

They took a moment as they locked eyes with each other.